Minnesota DNR wants to add moose, lynx, many others to 'watch' lists

The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources would like to add 67 animal species and 114 native plant species to the official state endangered list, reports the Duluth News Tribune.

Some, like the moose, the little brown myotis bat, the big brown bat, the boreal owl and the northern goshawk would be added as "species of concern."

Moving the moose to "species of concern" would not end the hunting season on the big mammals, though.

But the lynx forest cat would go on the state's list as a "threatened species."

And the loggerhead shrike and horned grebe would move from threatened to full-blown "endangered status," the paper said.

If the proposed changes are made final next year, the state’s updated endangered-species list would grow from 439 species of plants, mammals, insects and other animals to 591 species.

There's good news, too:

The proposal calls for taking 15 plants and 14 animals — including wolves and bald eagles — off the list. The peregrine falcon and trumpeter swan both are being upgraded from threatened to species of concern.